Reviews with content warning for Addiction - All the Things We Don't Talk About

This story covers some big topics and has a diverse/well represented cast of characters. When I stumbled upon this book, I knew it was a must read for me. The story seemed really unique and like a story I would really enjoy. It took me a week to finish, which tells me I wasn't drawn to it. I was enjoying it, but found it had far too much going on in the story. It could have done with a few less things and really focused on the relationships between Morgan, Julian and Zoe and who Morgan was. With so much going on, it felt surface level and with the topics, could have done better with more depth. Overall, still enjoyable and relevant.

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stavoosh's review

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

this was very REAL. i felt like my friend was telling me the story tbh. Writing was pretty good and the content about mental health and addiction is explained really well. I think it's very digestible for someone who isn't familiar with those things to understand what a person experiencing that on the daily is like. It was well written but didn't SPEAK to me.

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lizzie_r's review

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adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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spinesinaline's review against another edition

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challenging tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing for an ARC to review. This was a slow-moving book but by the end I loved it! It wasn’t the perfect read but there was something so gripping about these characters that I couldn’t look away and was so invested in their lives.

It really does get better as you read. I couldn’t figure out what this book was really about at first but it ends up being about all these little things that come back as reminders and themes in such subtle ways. A quiet but stunning read for me.

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starrysteph's review

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challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

All the Things We Don’t Talk About was a thoughtful, modern coming-of-age story.

We follow Morgan, a nonbinary teen navigating their first romantic relationship, and Julian, their autistic father struggling to find the best way to support his child. Their balance is disrupted as Morgan’s estranged mother Zoe tumbles into their lives once again. And our fourth POV comes from Zoe’s partner Brigid, who has developed a long-distance friendship with Julian over the years.

So … it's complicated. Add in Zoe’s struggle with alcoholism (and Morgan’s deep desire for acceptance) and you can see that this family is teetering on the edge of huge conflict.

The topics are heavy and the characters are complex (even Zoe, who typically serves as the antagonist, has an honest POV & you get to peek deeper into her behavior). But the characters are treated with care, and there are so many tender moments that kept me reading.

I appreciated that the characters’ identities (Morgan’s gender identity & Julian’s neurodivergent identity) are not used as big plot points/major sources of turmoil. Instead, they are deeply woven into the characters’ POVs and lives and written with nuance. Julian’s ability to parent is never in question. Morgan’s pronouns are respected.

I really wanted more time with Julian - I would have loved more backstory into his journey as a single parent, raising Morgan and learning routines together and navigating life.

Sometimes the writing was a bit dry. It was generally very raw & felt authentic, but there were times when Feltman was building up to a conflict where the pacing felt off/the scenes dragged. I was also confused at times about the space between scenes.

Finally, I felt the ending was a bit too quick, and too much was left unresolved. Not that things have to be tied up in a neat little bow - but I wanted a bit more closure around certain plotlines. And I felt disappointed & saddened about some major decisions made by the characters.

Overall, this was a caring portrait of a complex family. It gave me room to reflect on some dynamics in my own life. It was powerful and tender and an engaging read.

CW: addiction, alcoholism, abandonment, car accident, mass/school shootings, medical content, drug use, animal cruelty, death, death of grandparent, classism, emotional abuse, grief, gun violence, injury, medical content, mental illness, transphobia, toxic relationship, pregnancy (mentioned), abortion (mentioned)

(I received a free review copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

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sarahnoffy's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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sunflowerreads's review

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

One of my favorites of the year! As a person with an alcoholic parent this was a difficult read for me. I saw a lot of my own experiences in the relationship between Morgan and Zoe which definitely made it difficult to root for Zoe and to trust any character development that she seemed to go through (I am not unbiased so I am not a good judge of her state of growth). I loved Julian and Morgan, and their relationship is the real driving force in this novel and is what made it hard to put down.

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jdai90's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This book was…a lot. There were a lot of stories introduced but they weren’t fleshed out fully in my opinion. I think the relationship between Zoe and Morgan was interesting and I thought the book could’ve just been written about the two of them without all the other viewpoints. I didn’t feel connected to any one character in particular, and I don’t know…it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Also the school shooting seemed like it didn’t fit into the rest of the story, so I’m wondering what the point of that was.

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